“While body alignment and ball position do not involve advanced physical ability, consistent ball contact does. Many players struggling with consistency will swing too hard. This gets them to stand up out of their posture on the backswing, which makes it difficult to return to a proper position for good contact. Being aware of swing speed and adding balance and strength training will help in stabilizing the spine angle, which will result in more consistent ball contact.

A great exercise for working on swing speed and posture in the gym is the Redcord Golf Swing. Start in a golf posture, facing the Redcord unit with both hands grabbing onto a handle (positioned just below your navel). Maintain tension on the Redcord strap, activate your core muscles and start into the backswing. Focus on staying in your (stable) golf posture. This will be key in assisting with the objective of consistency. Once you are finished with your backswing, start the downswing by initiating the hips, and follow through to your finish. The tension of the strap will assist in promoting good posture, and it will provide a feedback for swing speed. Complete five full repetitions at a slow speed, five at medium speed, and then five at a higher speed. The combination of maintaining posture and practicing swing speed will help with ball contact consistency.”

Remember these ABC’s:

Angle: Maintaining the proper spine angle is imperative to having control at the point of contact. If a golfer cannot maintain it, the head, shoulders and arms will usually move away from the ball toward impact.

Balance: Having the ability to balance in all planes of motion will ultimately improve a golfer’s changes of maintaining spine angle and making ball contact consistent. Proper balance, then, plays an important role.

Core: Increasing strength and stability within the core musculature will only help in maintaining positions, allowing for efficient energy transfer and warding off injuries that can occur with a repetitive sport.

Maria’s passion about body movement started at a very young age at her birthplace in the northern part of Greece. She was playing basketball, doing track and field, and competing as a gymnast. After graduating from the School of Physical Education with a Masters degree in gymnastics and dancing, she joined a well known dance performing center in Thesaloniki Greece (Centro Balleto Classico) as a dancer as well as a teacher of contemporary dance. Her lifelong love for sports and being physically active took a new turn 11 years ago, when she started training with Marcy Schafler. Since then, Maria has completed her Pilates Certification program and has been teaching at Mind over Movement Pilates studio for the past two years. Maria is also a CoreAlign certified instructor. She teaches group and private classes at the studio. In her free time Maria is an avid skier and surfer.